Welcome to The Napoleon Room

No, not this kind of Napoleon:

This kind of Napoleon:

He hangs in the room we now call The Napoleon Room. The little leader was one of the first things I bought for the house, originally for the toile bathroom, but he was too big (imagine that...Napoleon was too big! He'd be so happy.). Then he was just sort of hanging out in the empty guest room all by himself. "Where's the vacuum?" "In the Napoleon Room." "Where should I put these empty boxes?" "In The Napoleon Room." So, that's how the room got it's name, and now our French ami stands guard over guests in the bedroom next to ours.

Here's the room in January 2008. We slept in here (on our air mattress) because it was the darkest room in the house (and we had no window coverings). Lots and lots of floral wallpaper:

And here it is this week:

I'd like to say we took the wallpaper down ourselves, but we didn't. We hired local handyman Noel who ripped and primed in just a couple of days. The pain, suffering and cursing we were spared was worth every dime of the very reasonable price he charged. We'd still be ripping down the three layers (I wish I had saved a piece of the psychedelic 60s race car paper behind the flowers).

The iron bed frame was...$219! We were at Raymour and Flanigan to look at mattresses, and bought the frame. I really didn't want to buy anything from the big chain stores, but we couldn't resist the price. It's on sale there quite a bit (and we had a coupon), and I have to say it's sturdy as all get-out if you're looking for a classic "iron" frame that would work in either a vintage or modern space.

Above is one of three dressers I scored on my thrifty trips this year, and I have to say it's my favorite. The detail of the woodgrain...oh...it's really fabulous. It was in mint condition. I cleaned it with Murphy's. That's it. Currently on the dresser top: A trio of thrifty treasures (the globe, the oil painting and the candlestick) that didn't even cost me $20. Love. That.

In the corner where Napoleon hangs out is a cute little table that we dug out of the man of the house's mother's attic.

And while we're in Mr. Bonaparte's corner, check out the amazing frieze work all along the outside of the portrait, all showing various pieces of Napoleon's life. It was hard to get good photos of the etching, but there's quite a bit of detail. It's signed but I can't make out the signature. This is definitely one of the things I'd schlep to the Antiques Roadshow. It cost me $75, on major sale from someone cleaning out his antique booth but still a budget buster for me. So I'm hoping Mark Walberg will trip over himself with excitement when he sees it (and guess what...the Roadshow is coming to Atlantic City, NJ, on June 6 and I just applied for tickets. Wouldn't that be fun?!)

The pillow adds a pop of color in the neutral room. I love this fabric, and wish the woman I bought it from at the Ocean Grove Craft Fair had a web site. Her fabrics were fabulous, and the quality of her sewing quite good. Plus this rather large bolster cost only $27, which I was happy to hand over to another crafty lady. (And, p.s., the color palette of the room became neutral by "accident"...we had a full gallon of Ben Moore's Fog Mist left over from the "billiard room," and the taupe-colored quilted bedding came from my mom. She was getting ready to donate it and I gladly swooped in on that.)

On the other side table is that fabulous 1950s hostess book I scored at the Ladies' bazaar this summer. I like to think that guests chuckle their ways to sleep after reading about savory and sweet gelatin molds and the proper ways to welcome your husband's friends into the home.

This little (heavy!) mirror was one of the first "grown up" things I ever bought. I got it at an auction in Windham, NY, when I was in college for around $15, I think ('cause I certainly didn't have much money!). It's plaster and chippie, but fabulous.

And here's the plate rack I've mentioned before. It's Dutch and very, VERY old. (Come to think of it, I may haul that to the Roadshow, too.) Currently I've got a couple of black and white family photos perched in there (it needs more, though I think the rack will house a rotating gallery of all sorts of thrifty oddities)...

...including one photo of the very dapper father of Mr. Shorehouse. I love this photo:

The rack is on a big empty wall. I'm fixed on finding an old faux fireplace/vintage mantle to put there, but Mr. S. doesn't "get" it. Fake? Fireplace? Why? Ugh. Do I have to explain everything? ;-) I grabbed the chair from the master bedroom that I bought from the fabulous Brooklyn-based Reclaimed Home to pop in there for a look-see. Maybe a chair could fill in the space a bit...

Any ideas?

I hope you enjoyed finally meeting The Napoleon Room. Blogging will continue to be a bit sporadic. I am crazy busy at the day job so please forgive me if I'm absent from your blogs, too, for the time being. Google Reader just told me I have "1000 +" posts to catch up on. Gulp.